"Evolution by stealth" agenda.

Movers and shakers from the United States, Canada, and Mexico gathered behind closed doors during September 12-14, 2006 at a resort hotel in Banff, Canada, for a meeting of the North American Forum. On his way home from the gathering, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon told an Ottawa audience, "The North American Forum is a parallel structure to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America." That is an interesting description of the forum, a private organization that sponsors confabs where high-level public officials regularly meet to decide public policies in meetings that are off-limits to the public!

U.S. participants at the Banff gathering included forum co-chairman George Shultz, NAFTA's primary creator Carla Hills, several former cabinet officials, a contingent of senior U.S. military officers, and Dr. Robert Pastor, the leading architect of the drive to create a North American Union. Donald Rumsfeld, who was then still secretary of defense, was scheduled to appear but didn't. The elite spent the three days hearing plans regarding energy, security, and border infrastructure. One of the sessions boldly discussed "North American Integration."

The secret meeting may have passed unnoticed except that one of the attendees thought that citizens have a right to know what their elected and appointed leaders are planning with unaccountable private individuals and organizations. Canadian author and National Party leader Mel Hurtig attended the conference and then commented, "It was clear that the intention was to keep this important meeting about integrating the three countries out of the public eye.... You've got to be hugely concerned."

One of the telling documents that has come out of the conference is from minutes of a panel discussion which noted the importance of secrecy in winning public support for the NAU trilateral merger. This was referred to as "evolution by stealth."